It's a foregone conclusion that Republican Mitt Romney will carry Alabama in the Nov. 6 presidential election. But how big will his margin be over President Barack Obama?

Romney appears likely improve on Republican John McCain's 2008 performance against Obama, according to top GOP officials. Could Romney set a new high-water mark for Republican candidates in Alabama?

McCain lost the 2008 election, but captured 60 percent of the vote in Alabama and carried 54 of the state's 67 counties. Romney has struggled to find his footing with conservative voters, finishing third in Alabama's GOP primary behind Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.

But the former Massachusetts governor is riding a wave of anti-Obama sentiment across red-state Alabama that could propel him to a historic victory.

Richard Nixon set the standard for Republican presidential candidates in 1972, when he captured 72 percent of the Alabama vote. The last Democratic candidate to capture the state was Georgia native Jimmy Carter, who captured 56 percent of the vote in 1976.

"I think Romney will easily clear 60 percent," said Bill Armistead, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. "Actually, I think he'll have one of the biggest margins anywhere in the country."

Romney is such a lock that the Alabama GOP has been dispatching busloads of volunteers to help the candidate in swing states Florida and Ohio. Armistead said 116 Alabama Republicans spent five days working for the Romney campaign in Ohio last week.

The group returned to Alabama on Sunday after knocking on 20,000 doors in the Dayton area, according to Armistead.

The response was so strong that Armistead boldly predicted a Romney win in Ohio - a potential tipping point race for the White House.

"He's going to win Ohio and it will be because of Alabama's battleground patriots," said Armistead, a former state senator from Columbiana.